the hate list
by milk ghost
Summary: "You have to change your own destiny, because Prince Charming isn't coming to sweep you off your feet. You have to be your own hero, and save yourself." Or, six girls learn to stand up for themselves, and that there's always hope, no matter how helpless the situation seems.—natsu/lucy, gray/juvia


**notes:** i am so majorly done with character hate. seriously. also real life bullying. three cheers for strong female characters and great female friendships, though. in the meantime, how about a shot of some canon gale kiss to go around? i'd like another. **  
disclaimer: **yeah right. i own nothing.  
**summary: **"You have to change your own destiny, because Prince Charming isn't coming to sweep you off your feet. You have to rescue yourself—be your own hero." Or, six girls learn to stand up for themselves, and find that things always turn around, no matter how helpless the situation seems.  
**please note: **story has nothing to do with the book of the same title.

**chapter title: **poker face, or we were doomed from the start

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_{and i try so hard not to notice, and i try so hard not to care}_

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**i. **

It was a breezy, slightly overcast morning as the students of Magnolia High scrambled out of their classes as soon as the bell rang. There was much pushing, shoving, and yelling, as the majority of the student body fought to either get to their next class on time, or not waste five minutes of their free block for the halls to clear, with the ever-present possibility of getting trampled. (Not that it'd ever happened, but these particular mob of teenagers were exceptionally rambunctious and no one wanted to take any chances.) All in all, it was pretty normal for a Tuesday.

"Hey _Blondie_," Lucy inwardly groaned at the spite-filled tone and the nickname she'd been given, "where do you think _you're _going?"

The seventeen-year-old paused mid-step, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Of all the days in all her junior year, they had to torment her _today_? Convinced she'd been cursed with the worst luck in the world, she exhaled slowly and tightened her grip on the strap of her backpack. Without turning—_do not make eye contact, _she thought desperately, _keep your head down and a tight rein on your words_—she tried to keep her voice neutral. "I'm heading to the library. You know, that place at the end of the school building that's full of books? Where people go to study and read?"

Unfortunately for her, she didn't exactly have the best brain-to-mouth filter, but managed to cut her sarcastic stream off before she could get herself in over her head.

"Why you—!" a stiletto-clad foot stomped against the tiled floor. "Turn around and say that to my _face, _you little scrap of trash!" Lucy cringed, but the feminine voice kept going, her tone skipping several octaves in her anger. "You think you can just transfer here—from some second-rate school in a _port town, _for crying out loud—and ignore all the rules? High school is a hierarchy, you insolent twit, and I'm the queen. So pay me some respect, you worthless piece of scum."

Lucy bit back a retort about how she was surprised the girl even knew how to use the word 'hierarchy' properly, and turned. She brushed some of her blonde bangs out of her eyes, and came face-to-face with Minerva Orlando and her so-called 'friends'—Karen Lilica, Sorano 'Angel' Aguria and her younger sister Yukino, and Flare Corona.

Minerva was, apparently the Queen Bee of Magnolia High—and she never let anyone forget it. Her father was ridiculously wealthy, which only seemed to fuel her already inflated ego. She had an over-the-top taste in fashion which usually consisted of too-tight dresses, long black hair styled with braids and buns, and a smear of red lipstick and dark eyeshadow. Boys adored her, most girls feared her, and when she walked—or, in her choice of words, "graced these disgusting halls with her presence"—through the hallways people scattered to make room for her.

She also had the passion of torturing whoever she felt like, and had seemingly zeroed Lucy out on her first day. That'd been three months ago when the blonde had first transferred at the beginning of the academic year. She had the power to make a person's life their own personal hell, if she so chose, and that was why most of the 'unpopulars' feared her. Lucy wasn't so much afraid of what the girl could do, rather she just didn't want the trouble, and so she had gone along with the whole caste system at first.

Sort of, anyway, because three hours into her first day Minerva had apparently found her new target, and things hadn't been very pleasurable since. Lucy tried to keep Minerva's stinging words and insults from getting to her, tried to ignore the rumors that were spread about her and how she got such good grades, and tried to just go about her daily life as is nothing were out of the ordinary.

But Minerva didn't like that one bit, and consequently things began to get worse. Which was how she ended up in this situation in the first place.

Lucy sighed, and slowly looked up at the fuming drama queen. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be," she struggled for a moment, "…rude."

She purposely left out the snarky 'your _highness_' that was threatening to slip out.

Minerva scoffed and decided to inspect her red manicure. "Whatever, lowlife."

Karen, a lime-haired girl with a bad taste in fashion and an equally rotted attitude, sneered at the blonde. "So _Lucy,_" she flinched at the maliciousness in her name,"a little birdie told me that you got another one hundred on your calculus test Friday," something cruel glittered in her eyes, and she lowered her voice to a stage-whisper. "And you know what else I heard? That you screwed around with old man Wakaba to get it."

All the girls except Yukino, who looked extremely uncomfortable, burst into laughter, earning them a few curious glances. But they were quickly diverted elsewhere when the source of the laughter was discovered. Lucy swallowed, and ground her teeth, her knuckles turning white. It was kind of ironic that Karen was accusing her of something like that, when the girl was known through the 'lower class' as a man eater. Or something along those lines. She was with a new boy every week, or at least it seemed that way sometimes

"I _didn't_," she mumbled, "I would _never_."

Angel snickered and flipped some of her long white hair behind her. "_Sure _you wouldn't."

"That's just what a guilty person would say," Flare commented, wild red eyes matching her wide and unfriendly grin.

Yukino kept silent.

From far down the hall, a shout of Minerva's name reached them, and said girl smirked. She leaned in and tapped Lucy on the nose. "That would be Sting, and I don't want to keep him waiting. So," she grabbed the blonde's bag and somehow managed to wrangle it from her death grip. She unzipped it, turned the polka-dot backpack upside down, and watched in content as Lucy's books and other supplies clattered to the floor.

She tossed the bag to the side and brushed past the quiet blonde, making sure to bump into her on the way. "Ta-ta until next torment."

Karen was next, shooting a glance at the girl and snickering at the downcast look on her face. Angel gave her a careless wave as she went by, practically shouting, "Later loser!" through the mostly empty halls. Flare made sure to pull harshly on Lucy's ponytail as she sauntered by, and brushed her hands on her skirt after the blonde's hair ribbon fell to the floor.

Yukino and Lucy just stood there, not moving or saying a word. They wouldn't meet each other's gaze, and Lucy closed her eyes and let out a breath, her scalp suddenly aching. When she opened them, she was surprised to see a patch of powder blue hair, and the girl holding her Fiorean History textbook out to her.

The blonde took it in surprise, and almost jumped when the other girl suddenly rushed past her—without making any physical contact. "Sorry," she said quietly, and then took off down the now empty hallway.

Lucy sighed and slumped to the floor, trying to gather the contents of her backpack and stuff them back in it before her free period was completely over. She scowled when she noticed the light burning sensation in the corner of her eyes, and rubbed at them in frustration. The blonde grabbed her bag and slung it back over her shoulder as she tried to get away from the scene as quickly as possible.

It was bad enough that she was crying—albeit not of her will—but she refused to do it in the hall when someone could come out at any time and catch her.

What she didn't know, though, was after she rounded the corner on her way to the library, was that she'd left her hair ribbon lying on the floor. Or that, only a few minutes later, someone stopped down to pick the pretty pink piece of fabric up, almost causing his friend to bump into him.

"Hey! What the hell are you _doing_?! Don't just _stop _in the middle of the hall with no warning, you moron!"

The insults and harsh advice fell on deaf ears though, as interested dark eyes stared at the ribbon twisted between his fingers.

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"And she's just so…so..._ugh_!" Lucy's face met with the marble tabletop as her best friend giggled at her.

Levy McGarden—fellow bookworm and blue-haired wonder in the academic community—smiled as the blonde let out a series of groans and unintelligible murmurs. The two were seated in a booth at Fairy Tail, a nice and friendly diner located in downtown Magnolia. It was somewhat of a popular hangout spot among the teens, probably because of its first-rate food, pretty waitresses, and fast service.

Lucy raised her head and took a sip of her half-and-half strawberry and vanilla milkshake. She sighed dejectedly, and Levy popped a few curly fries into her mouth. "Awful, horrible, ignominious, stuck-up, self-righteous? Any of those work?"

"Why don't you try _all of the above_," the blonde huffed, but she was laughing.

Levy laughed along with her, and as their giggles died down, she asked, "So what'd she say to you _this _time, Lu?"

Lucy waved her hands around, and nodded her head. "Okay, okay. So I was headed to the library during my free block, y'know like usual? But they caught me, and I accidentally let some sarcasm slip through, and it wasn't even anything bad but Minerva wasn't happy about it at all. So, she started going off about how I should pay her more respect. Just like always," here she paused, and a slow grin spread across her face, "_How dare you disrespect me, you little twat! Who do you think you are, coming in here and defying my ridiculous and overrated position as queen?! I am the ruler of this sad excuse of a high school, bow before royalty, swine!" _

The blonde had, in an attempt to try and imitate Minerva, raised her voice so that it sounded high-pitched and slightly squeaky. Levy, upon hearing her best friend's impersonation of the resident source of misery in their school, burst into laughter. She started to choke on the bite of her grilled cheese, and was torn between the cycle of coughing and laughing.

The sudden uproar caused several heads to turn in their direction, but the two girls were too busy laughing to notice. That was until another hearty laugh joined in, at least.

Cana Alberona slapped Levy on the back a few times as they continued to laugh, and the girl eventually calmed down. After assuring her two friends and a few concerned patrons that, no, she was not going to die, they settled back into snickering.

Lucy glanced up at the new addition to their duo, and smiled. "Slacking off now, are we Cana?"

The brunette scoffed and crossed her arms over her work uniform. "Of course not," but at her friends' knowing looks, she relented, "Okay so _maybe. _Just a little, though. Mira would be on me like a bloodhound after a fox if I took a break for too long, you know that."

Levy raised a brow and offered the girl some of her fries. "Is that so? I mean, it's not like we'd _tell _on you or anything," she shot a conspiratorial glance over at Lucy, who snorted.

Cana rolled her eyes and leaned against her blonde friend dramatically. "Ah but, you see, my slave driver of a boss has eyes everywhere. She's the devil. Or something."

"_Cana_!"

They laughed at the horrified shriek that came somewhere from the direction of the kitchen. The brunette took a bite of the pickle that had come with Lucy's sandwich. "See what I mean? Eyes, ears, _everywhere_."

She motioned around the interior of the diner with her hands, flinging some pickle juice at an unfortunate customer. He scowled at them while the girls laughed again.

Lucy shoved her arm in a friendly gesture, and nodded her head to where Mirajane was sticking her head out of the kitchen. "You'd better get back to work, now. Go on, shoo, shoo!"

Cana placed a hand over her heart and heaved a great sigh. "I'm being banished by the princess, what a shame. I am wounded, m'lady," she patted her chest. "Right here. Your coldness, it hurts."

Lucy snorted and shoved the brunette out of the booth. The girl waved the pickle at her, but she made a face and held out a hand. "You keep it, I don't know where your hands and mouth have been."

She laughed and gave the two an exaggerated bow. "Thank you, my liege. But I'm afraid one simple pickle won't make up for interrupting my impromptu break," she winked. "I expect a call later, with all of today's recent developments with the witch."

Her two friends rolled their eyes as they watched the brunette saunter away and towards a scolding Mirajane. Situations like this happened frequently, and both girls knew that everything would turn out alright. Lucy's eyes lingered on the two as they headed back into the kitchen, but then she returned her attention to her food.

Mirajane Strauss owned and operated Fairy Tail, after graduating high school and attending college a few years prior, she'd inherited the business from her adoptive grandfather. The place had always maintained a warm atmosphere—or so Levy had claimed—but with Mira running it, the diner seemed even friendlier. Not to mention her cooking skills were supreme.

The snow-haired young woman had haired Cana on a few months prior, and the brunette had been ecstatic for her part-time job. Lucy had only known the girl for a few months, though they'd become close friends, but she knew that Cana's mother was deceased and her father had only reappeared a year or so previous to the blonde's move to Magnolia. He'd become quite doting on his only daughter, and even though she was happy, Cana apparently needed something to do with her time.

Levy sighed and caught Lucy's attention. She stared uneasily at the blonde for a few seconds, before readjusting her headband. "Um, so Lu…I heard there's a new rumor that someone spread…"

Lucy didn't have to hear the _about you _that her best friend had intentionally left out to know what she was talking about. The girl heaved a heavy sigh and crossed her arms on the tabletop before laying her head on them. "Yeah. I know."

"Of course it's not true," Levy put in hastily, "but really, all this ridiculous gossip is getting out of hand. You know that new girl? Juvia Lockser? She's in your AP History class and a few others, I think. Well, I overheard Karen and Angel making fun of her today. She talks in third person you know—which is kind of cute, honestly, especially because she uses such polite language—and they were bashing her about it."

The blonde lifted her head and peered at the girl. "Oh great. They've taken a shine to her too, I see," she groaned.

Levy nodded, her wavy azure hair bobbing. "Mhm. And I'm sure you've heard about her crush on Gray Fullbuster, right?"

Lucy groaned again, louder this time, because she had a feeling she knew where this was going. Gray Fullbuster was, respectively, the captain of Magnolia High's hockey team. He also played on the soccer team, and was quite the handsome teenage boy. With his dark messy hair, deep blue eyes, and muscular build, Gray was easily considered one of the best-looking students in their school.

He was prone to brooding though, from what Lucy had heard and when she caught glimpses of him, she could tell that he wasn't really her type. But apparently he was Juvia's.

"Yes, I've heard."

Levy held up a finger. "Well, they were threatening to expose her in front of the whole school. I mean, it's not like most of the female population _doesn't _know about her feelings toward him, but not _everybody _knows. And if Minerva and her followers were to…reveal this bit of somewhat juicy information to everyone, it wouldn't be in a nice way. Juvia started to panic, and begged them not to. They just laughed and called her an obsessive stalker, and told her that she didn't stand a chance."

The blonde felt a headache coming on. Levy, Juvia, and she were all in the lower levels of the stupid high school caste system. People like Gray Fullbuster were at the top, and some students practically worshiped the ground they walked on. It was so dumb—but according to Levy and Cana it hadn't always been this way. It transformed shortly after Minerva's arrival.

People like Gray Fullbuster usually didn't even know that girls like Juvia Lockser existed. And while Lucy had heard that he really wasn't that bad of a guy, she knew that others could mock and make fun of the girl for the rest of her high school days. It wouldn't be pretty, and she hated to see that happen to someone as sweet as Juvia.

She leaned her head back against the seat of the booth and stared up at the ceiling. "I saw them picking on Lisanna after cheerleading practice today, too."

Levy raised a brow. "What were you doing out at the sports field, Lucy?"

The blonde idly tapped her fingers against the tabletop. "Working on a sketch for art. I think better with the fresh air, though not so much with all the shouts from the players. Some guy got creamed though, and it was kind of funny."

She snorted, and the girl across from her rolled her eyes. "Yeah? Okay, curiosity killed the cat. Who was it?"

Lucy's lips twitched upward into a smile as she closed her eyes and re-imagined the scene. "So picture this—Fullbuster is attempting to make a goal, but Dragneel's really making it hard for him, so he passes the ball over to Eucliffe and WHAM! Redfox slams right into him, knocking Minerva's favorite blond straight on his face. It was all very dramatic, you should have been there."

She opened her eyes and noticed her best friend staring out the window. "Gajeel huh…"

The blonde smiled slyly and leaned her elbows on the table, propping her chin in her hands. "So, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, huh? And since when did you call him by his first name?"

Levy instantly snapped back to gape at the girl, eyes narrowing at the mischievous twinkle in her chocolate orbs. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, looking away defiantly. "Whatever," she mumbled, avoiding all eye contact. Then, a slow grin spread over her face and she turned back to the other girl. "So, _Dragneel, _huh? Are you sure you weren't out there to watch him practice? In all his shirtless, muscley glory?"

Lucy felt the heat rising to her cheeks and ground her teeth. "Yeah _right_," she scoffed, but was dismayed when it didn't come off as harshly as she intended. "As if I'd ever do something as stupid as that."

Because, after all, guys like Gajeel Redfox and Natsu Dragneel didn't know that girls like Levy McGarden and Lucy Heartfilia existed.

It was a little depressing from time to time, actually.

"Hey Lu, did you decide to wear your hair down today? You don't normally do that," Levy commented, and for the first time Lucy noticed something off. "In fact…I don't remember it being down when I saw you in second period…"

Her brows furrowed and she reached a hand up to her head, where part of her blonde hair should have been drawn up in a ponytail. Only, it wasn't. She moaned and as her hand dropped back to the table. "Great. It must've come out when Flare pulled on it earlier. And it was one of my favorite ribbons too."

Her best friend waved a hand around dismissively. "Well let's get you a new one! I think we need some serious cheering up after today, and I hear that the bookstore is having a sale too," she smiled cheekily. "So maybe we could stop by there later?"

Lucy returned her smile, and after the two girls paid for their food they rushed toward the glass door, sending a few waves at Mira and Cana on their way out.

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**end notes: **"lucy is weak and useless, lisanna's a bitch who only wants natsu for herself, juvia's just an obsessive stalker—" slams old anatomy textbook into person before they can finish. you don't like them? _learn to. _they don't deserve all the negative criticism they get.  
**end notes2: **more characters will be introduced next chapter, by the way.


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